thomson



(No Model.

J. L. THOMSON.

SHOEGLA'SP.

No. 802,799. I Patented July 29, 1884.

Nrrn- SHOE-CLASP.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 302,799, dated July 29, 1884. Application filed April ll, 1884. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JUnsoN L. THOMSON, of Syracuse, in the county of Onondaga, in the State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in ShoeOlasps, of which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention is designed more particui larly as an improvement on the shoe-clasp for which I have obtained Letters Patent No. 290,816, dated December 25, 1883; and it consists in an improved construction and combination of the component parts of the clasp, as hereinafter described, and specifically set forth in the claims.

The invention is fully illustrated in the aunexed drawings,w11ereiu Figure lis a perspec tive view of the clasp as formerly constructed by me. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the blank from which the tongue of the aforesaid clasp is formed. Fig. 3 is a detached perspective view of said tongue. Fig. 4 is a plan view of the blank, embodying one of the features of my present improvements. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a clasp embodying other fea tures of my present invention. Figs. 6 and 7 are plan views of the blanks from which the aforesaid clasp is formed, and Figs. 8 and 9 are plan views of modifications of said blanks.

Similar letters of reference indicate corre sponding parts.

A represents the blank from which the spring-tongue T of the shoe-clasp shown in Fig. 1 is formed, said tongue being hinged to an attaching-plate, B, and having on the ends of its hinge cam-shapedprojections n a, eugaging with notches in the roll or hinged portion a of the plate B, whereby the tongue is automatically held in two of its operative positions, and receives a lateral compression as it is swung from one of its aforesaid positions to the other. The blank A, from which the aforesaid spring-tongue is formed, Istamp out of sheet-steel by means of a die, which punches out of the blank an excision or opening, 0, extending through one edge of the blank, thereby forming a sl1eet-metal strip, maintained in one plane, and having its extremities disposed side by side with a space between them, to allow said extremities to defleet laterally andcxert the elasticity of the plate edgewise thereof.

In stamping out the blank A, as aforesaid, the extremities thereof receive notches 72%, which form the cams on the tongue T, when the extremities of the blank are rolled up to form the hinge of the tongue, as represented in Fig. 3 of the drawings.

The connection of the tongue T with the plate B was effected by a pin extended through the rolled-up ends of said parts, as shown in Fig. 1 ofthe drawings.

One of the objects of my present invention is to obviate the expense of forming a roll or sleeve on the tongue, and to dispense with the extra pin for connecting the tongue to its plate; and to that end I construct the tongue of a blank, A, formed with lateral projcc tions 0 c, as shown in Fig. 4 of the drawings, in lieu of the notches n a, said projections thus being integral with the tongue and serving as pins by which to hinge the tongue T on the attachingplate B of the shoe-clasp.

Heretofore I have obtained the tongue-act uating spring by the construction of the said tongue; but inasmuch as said member is lllllited in its width, it is sometimes difficult to obtain either the requisite elasticity or the proper tension, and I therefore convert the ordinary rigid and larger attaching-plate B into a spring by forming the same of a blank, A, havinga central excision extending through one end thereof, leaving a marginal band, as shown in Figs. 6 and 8 of the drawings, said band constituting a spring, which exerts its elasticity edgewise of the band or plate of which thespring is formed.

The notches a a may be either formed on the inner edges of the extremities to operate with the cams of the tongue T, hinged be tween them, as represented in Fig. 5 of the drawings, or formed on the outer edges of the extremities of the blank, as shown in Fig. 8 of the drawings, to engage with the cams of the tongue T, hinged to the outside of the aforesaid blank.

Having described myinvention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, 1s-

1. An improved clasp consisting of the spring-bearing plate having its central portion cut away, and provided with bearings,

and a lever-tongue provided with integral lat- In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed 10 eral projections or pivots resting in such bearmy name and affixed my seal, in the presence ings, all substantially as shown and described. of two attesting witnesses, at Syracuse, in the 2. The blanks A A, the former provided county ofOnondaga, in the State ofNewYork, with lateral extensions forming pivots, and this 28th day of March, 1884.

the latter provided with bearings for such JUDSON L. THOMSON. [L. s.] pivots, and having a central excision, the two Witnesses: adapted, when united, to form a clasp, sub- 0. H. DUELI,

stantially as described and shown. F. H. GIBBS. 

